Sperm whales communicate more clearly than scientists ever believed, according to new research that looks into years of recordings of whale language.
How do the whales communicate?
They “communicate by squeezing air through their respiratory systems to make strings of rapid clicks that can sound like an extremely loud zipper underwater,” The Associated Press reported.
Scientists now believe those sounds compose a “phonetic alphabet,” allowing for complex communication through miles of water. Researchers noted “similarities to aspects of other animal communication systems — and even human language,” according to NBC News.
“The research shows that the expressivity of sperm whale calls is much larger than previously thought,” Pratyusha Sharma, lead author of the study, told NBC News. “We do not know yet what they are saying. We are studying the calls in their behavioral contexts next to understand what sperm whales might be communicating about.”
According to the study, this type of language system is “exceedingly rare in nature” but “their use by sperm whales shows that they are not uniquely human.”
Are sperm whales social animals?
Sperm whales are highly social creatures, traveling in family groups.
“It’s hard not to see cousins playing while chatting,” Biologist Shane Gero told NPR. “To not see moms hand over to a babysitter and exchange a few words before walking out the door, so to speak, to go eat in the deep ocean.”